Easy Voluminous Updo Tutorial for Thin Hair

Create volume for thinner locks by following this simple updo tutorial.

Step 1:

Starting at the side of your head, make a diagonal part going back. A side, diagonal part helps camouflage thinning hair.

Step 2:

Starting right behind your part, gently back-comb your hair to build volume. Repeat this on the next section back.

Step 3:

Throw hair back into place and smooth over gently. Give hair a good spray of hairspray to lock the volume into place.

Step 4:

Gather the top half of your hair into the back of your head and start to make a ponytail, creating a “loop,” leaving the “tail” of the ponytail out. Making this “loopy” updo will give the illusion of thick, full hair.

Step 5:

Using bobby pins, pin the loop against your head.

Step 6:

Gather the bottom half of your hair into the back of your head and make another “loop” and “tail”. Bobby pin the loop against your head, as you did the first one.

Step 7:

Take the remaining “tail” ends and pin them around the loops sporadically. Make loop shapes with the ends to create more volume and the illusion of thick hair.

Step 8:

Lightly backcomb your bang area to camouflage any thin-looking hair. Pro tip: backcombing is a great trick to make hair appear thicker — doing it lightly ensures you’re being gentle with your hair.

Step 9:

Take the side of your bang area with the least amount of hair and spread it out so it appears thicker. Spray into place with hairspray.

An updo gives hair the appearance of looking thicker than when it’s worn all the way down. Although wearing your hair down can appear thicker with a great blow-out, thickening spray/powder and some back-combing, a few of these steps can be skipped if you opt for a quick updo like this.

This article was originally posted October 2014, and updated March 2017.